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Article
Publication date: 31 December 2004

Jenny Dawkins

An ever‐increasing number of companies are recognising the reputational risks and opportunities that corporate responsibility brings, and for these companies aligning corporate

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Abstract

An ever‐increasing number of companies are recognising the reputational risks and opportunities that corporate responsibility brings, and for these companies aligning corporate behaviour with stakeholder expectations is an ongoing business priority. Communication, however, often remains the missing link in the practice of corporate responsibility. The information requirements of a range of opinion leader and mass stakeholder audiences are not currently being satisfied by many companies, so they are not getting full credit for their responsible corporate behaviour. Of course, there are specific challenges in communicating corporate responsibility – including scepticism towards company messages and potentially hostile reactions from the media, campaign groups and others. The diverse information requirements of different stakeholder groups also present special communication challenges, and these requirements are examined in turn. Using MORI’s British opinion research to illustrate the case, this paper first examines communication to opinion leader audiences (such as legislators, business press, investors and non‐governmental organisations), and in particular the opportunities and limitations of the social report. It then goes on to address communication of corporate responsibility to the general public and the need to trigger wider consumer engagement in this topic. Lastly, it covers the communication opportunity presented by companies’ own employees and the internal communication challenges surrounding corporate responsibility. The paper suggests, in conclusion, that effective communication of corporate responsibility depends on a clear strategy which evaluates both the opportunities and the risks to the brand, and which tailors messages to different stakeholder groups. It calls for a coordinated approach, which ideally embeds corporate responsibility messages into mainstream communications. The paper also identifies internal communication as an under‐utilised and potentially powerful channel for enhancing a company’s reputation for responsibility among its key stakeholders.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 September 2018

Nojeem Amodu

An efficient corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework in many economies has been linked with human capital development, social and financial inclusion, environmental…

Abstract

An efficient corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework in many economies has been linked with human capital development, social and financial inclusion, environmental protection and better stakeholder management. This article examines the level of efficiency of the CSR framework in Nigeria; it underscores the developmental potentials of CSR practices within the Nigerian business community. However, a prevailing trend of haphazard and sometimes dodgy CSR practices by free riding rogue companies mars such potentials. Underpinning these dodgy practices has been a CSR ‘business case’ argument coupled with dysfunctional business (corporate) law assumptions among other causative factors. The article appraises the implications of these causative factors and towards minimising the haphazard practices, proposes corporate law reforms through which the Nigerian CSR framework may become more effective.

Details

Stakeholders, Governance and Responsibility
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-380-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 March 2024

Oswald A. J. Mascarenhas, Munish Thakur and Payal Kumar

This chapter addresses one of the most crucial areas for critical thinking: the morality of turbulent markets around the world. All of us are overwhelmed by such turbulent…

Abstract

Executive Summary

This chapter addresses one of the most crucial areas for critical thinking: the morality of turbulent markets around the world. All of us are overwhelmed by such turbulent markets. Following Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2004, 2010), we distinguish between nonscalable industries (ordinary professions where income grows linearly, piecemeal or by marginal jumps) and scalable industries (extraordinary risk-prone professions where income grows in a nonlinear fashion, and by exponential jumps and fractures). Nonscalable industries generate tame and predictable markets of goods and services, while scalable industries regularly explode into behemoth virulent markets where rewards are disproportionately large compared to effort, and they are the major causes of turbulent financial markets that rock our world causing ever-widening inequities and inequalities. Part I describes both scalable and nonscalable markets in sufficient detail, including propensity of scalable industries to randomness, and the turbulent markets they create. Part II seeks understanding of moral responsibility of turbulent markets and discusses who should appropriate moral responsibility for turbulent markets and under what conditions. Part III synthesizes various theories of necessary and sufficient conditions for accepting or assigning moral responsibility. We also analyze the necessary and sufficient conditions for attribution of moral responsibility such as rationality, intentionality, autonomy or freedom, causality, accountability, and avoidability of various actors as moral agents or as moral persons. By grouping these conditions, we then derive some useful models for assigning moral responsibility to various entities such as individual executives, corporations, or joint bodies. We discuss the challenges and limitations of such models.

Details

A Primer on Critical Thinking and Business Ethics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-312-1

Book part
Publication date: 19 July 2018

Mavis Amo-Mensah and Ralph Tench

Contemporary debates on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are framed in a global context; however, there is ample evidence that national and institutional frameworks define…

Abstract

Purpose

Contemporary debates on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are framed in a global context; however, there is ample evidence that national and institutional frameworks define CSR practices. Questions about the activities of Transnational Companies (TNCs) in their host countries further highlight growing CSR concerns, developments and challenges in specific regions. Our aim in this chapter is to examine the theoretical arguments on the relationship between context and CSR, looking at the role of situational conditions in driving responsible corporate behaviour in a global environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on discourse analytic concepts, we use insights derived from our comparative research on transnational companies’ (European and non-European) self-presentations of CSR-related actions in a developing country, Ghana, to illuminate our argument.

Findings

The discussions demonstrate that context relationships are crucial in CSR practices since they contribute to a wide variety of implicit meanings that provide in-depth understanding of companies’ responsibilities in specific regions. Our empirical analysis showed that linguistic categories of the TNCs related more to responsibilities that focused on ethos than logos, which suggests credible CSR messages to a large extent.

Originality/value

The chapter contributes to the emerging literature on the context-specific nature of CSR in two important ways. First, it provides insights to further the debate on the utility of balancing local and global requirements in corporate CSR actions. Second, our linguistic-based model of analysing CSR communication content, which we demonstrate from our study, offers a novel approach to assess companies’ real intentions, motives and perspectives on CSR in the wake of growing corporate scandals.

Details

The Critical State of Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-149-6

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 September 2018

Lukman Raimi

Diverse understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) abounds among scholars and practitioners in Nigeria. The purpose of this chapter is to reinvent CSR in Nigeria…

Abstract

Diverse understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) abounds among scholars and practitioners in Nigeria. The purpose of this chapter is to reinvent CSR in Nigeria through a deeper understanding of the meaning and theories of this nebulous concept for better application in the industry. The qualitative research approach is adopted, relying on critical review of scholarly articles on CSR, website information of selected companies and institutional documents. It was found that there are diverse meanings of CSR in the reviewed literature, but the philanthropic initiatives and corporate donations for social issues are the common CSR practices in Nigeria. Besides, the eight dominant theories of CSR that find relevance for applications in the industry are shareholder/agency, stakeholder, legitimacy, instrumental, social contract, conflict, green and communication theories. The implication of the discourse is that better understanding and application of CSR theories would strengthen conceptual, theoretical and empirical research in the field of CSR. Besides, CSR theories are useful sources of information for practitioners for designing social responsibility policies and practices as well as for providing scholars with sound theoretical framework for academic research.

Details

Redefining Corporate Social Responsibility
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-162-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2013

Johanna Kujala, Kathleen Rehbein, Tiina Toikka and Jenni Enroth

The purpose of this paper is to understand differences between the strategic level and the operational level of corporate responsibility within an organization.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand differences between the strategic level and the operational level of corporate responsibility within an organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was conducted as a single case study of one of the more noteworthy Finnish firms with respect to corporate responsibility reporting.

Findings

The results show that strategic and operational levels differ in terms of their developmental stage of corporate responsibility. The strategic level is more focused on responsibility issues concerning external stakeholders, on reporting, on corporate image and on quantitative measures. The operational level emphasizes internal stakeholders, acting, daily existence, and qualitative criteria.

Research limitations/implications

A well‐known corporate responsibility model was useful for identifying how perspectives concerning corporate social responsibility vary within the corporation. However, to explore the reasons for this variation, the actors, actions, outcomes and drivers of corporate responsibility need to be examined. The single case study method limits the generalizability of the results.

Originality/value

The research presents a unique case study with novel empirical data. The study contributes to the corporate responsibility research by discussing the differences between words and deeds of corporate responsibility, by testing the usefulness of a corporate responsibility framework and by trying to understand the reasons why different functions of an organization are at different developmental stages regarding corporate responsibility.

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2021

Meier Zhuang, Wenzhong Zhu, Lihui Huang and Wen-Tsao Pan

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the influence mechanism of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for smart cities on consumers' purchase intention. The authors aim to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the influence mechanism of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for smart cities on consumers' purchase intention. The authors aim to identify the key components of CSR for smart cities based on the perspective of consumers, namely responsibility toward consumers, environment and community and validate their relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors exploit data collected by questionnaire surveys to estimate the effects of CSR for smart cities on consumers' purchase intentions and to investigate the statistical causality between them. The multilinear regression model is used to figure out the different impact levels of the three dimensions of CSR for smart cities on consumers' purchase intention.

Findings

The results illustrate that CSR for smart cities and its three dimensions all have significant positive impacts on consumers' purchase intentions. Besides, consumer–corporate identity (CCI) exerts a partial mediation effect on this influence mechanism.

Research limitations/implications

This research is based on a rather small sample size. Besides, due to the time limitation and other factors, some other control variables are neglected in the regression model. Therefore, the impact level could be distorted.

Practical implications

The authors put forward management implications according to research conclusions. Corporates should actively fulfill the CSR in the field of consumer responsibility to boost consumers' purchase intention. Corporate should strengthen the interaction with consumers to improve their corporate identity.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this paper is to provide convincing evidence of the impacts of CSR for smart cities on consumer purchase intention (CPI), thus proposing effective measures for corporates to win more consumers by taking on social responsibility for smart cities. This paper takes CCI as mediating variable to deepen the understanding of the impacts of CSR for smart cities on CPI, which is innovative and beneficial to enriching literature in related fields.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 40 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Otuo Serebour Agyemang, Abraham Ansong and Millicent Kyeraa

This paper aims to examine the perception of individual Ghanaian shareholders on corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the perception of individual Ghanaian shareholders on corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Design/methodology/approach

In consequence of the largely unexplored nature of the issue of CSR, the authors use a qualitative analysis to offer the painstaking understanding needed about this issue. Individual Ghanaian shareholders who have absolute control over what companies they desire to invest were selected as the participants.

Findings

The findings show that individual shareholders believe there is the need for corporate directors and managers to take into consideration the interests of all corporate stakeholders-workers, customers, shareholders, suppliers, the local community and the environment- in fashioning out their CSR policies. It also shows the relevance individual shareholders attach to each of those CSRs within each corporate stakeholder group. For instance, the individual shareholders think that it is most relevant for firms to put implementable measures in place to reduce or minimise harm to the environment. Also, with respect to workers, firms are the first and foremost to ensure a hale and hearty and secured work environment. Further, with respect to customers, firms have to offer standard or quality products and services to them. More so, in regards to suppliers, corporate directors and managers have to offer them reasonable prices for their products. Finally, on the part of the local community, firms have to effectively assist them.

Practical implications

The practical approach to problems and affairs of individual Ghanaian shareholders is indicated by how much importance they attach to each corporate responsibility matter, and also they appreciate that a firm cannot thrive or survive for long if it refuses or totally abandons the needs of other corporate stakeholder categories. It will thus be of relevance to firms to take executable steps to deal with the needs of other corporate stakeholder groups brought up by the individual shareholders. As a matter of fact, the vivid descriptions of each of the matters concerning CSR of the individual shareholders present an important policy guideline for corporate directors and corporate managers to establish good-natured relationship between their firms and other corporate stakeholder groups.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the knowledge on CSR by establishing that even though individual shareholders are interested in personal economic benefits, they want their firms to be socially responsible to meet the interests of other corporate stakeholder groups.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 November 2018

Pasi Heikkurinen

This article examines how responsibility and strategy can and should be connected in a business organization.

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Abstract

Purpose

This article examines how responsibility and strategy can and should be connected in a business organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The article offers a review of the field by mapping previous studies according to their strategy and responsibility orientations and, consequently, identifies the classic perspective, as well as the major deficiencies and prevailing research gaps in the literature.

Findings

The article contributes to the field of strategic corporate responsibility by reframing the field with a contender perspective that challenges the classic view of strategy and responsibility amalgamation. Together, the classic and the contender perspectives are synthesized to form an integrative perspective that is more holistic than those currently available.

Originality/value

The article ends by calling for a reimagining of the relationship between corporate responsibility and strategy to find promising future research avenues and effective business practices suitable to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Details

Journal of Global Responsibility, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2041-2568

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2021

Salma Chakroun, Anis Ben Amar and Anis Ben Amar

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of earnings management on financial performance. In addition, the authors investigate whether corporate social responsibility

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of earnings management on financial performance. In addition, the authors investigate whether corporate social responsibility has a moderating effect on the impact of earnings management on financial performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical study is based on a sample of French companies listed on the CAC-All-Tradable index over the period 2008–2018. Feasible generalized least square regression method is used to estimate the econometric models.

Findings

Based on panel data of 3,003 French firm-year observations, the authors demonstrate that earnings management has a negative and significant impact on financial performance. Indeed, corporate social responsibility moderates positively the negative impact of earnings management on financial performance in the French context.

Practical implications

The findings have several implications for regulatory, investors and academic researchers. For regulators, it is appropriate to promote more several standards related to corporate social responsibility and earnings management. For investors, considering societal issues is very important in making decisions. For academic researchers, the results show that it is important to discover how corporate social responsibility can influence the relation between earnings management and financial performance.

Originality/value

The existing literature has generally focused on the impact of earnings management on financial performance and the empirical tests did not yield similar results. The study shows that corporate social responsibility has a moderating role in determining the impact of earnings management on financial performance.

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